Selected quad for the lemma: authority_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
authority_n	great_a	king_n	people_n	5,724	5	4.8029	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A06504	An exposition of Salomons booke called Ecclesiastes or the preacher. Seene and allowed.; Ecclesiastes odder prediger Salomo. English	Luther, Martin, 1483-1546.	1573 (1573)	STC 16979; ESTC S105591	154,755	384

cares anxieties but labour he requireth For out of the prison he commeth forth to reigne where he that is borne a kyng loseth the same THis saying agréeth with the premisses in this wyse therfore is a wyse childe better then an olde foole because many tymes it cōmeth to passe that some commeth out of the prison to a kingdome some other of kings fal to be ignominius and foolish as Manasse Zedechias But contrariwyse Ioseph being deliuered out of prison became the chief ruler in Aegipt And in our dayes Matthias kyng of Hūgary being brought out of the prison was made a mighty kyng Such thynges many tymes come to passe in the world as the Romaine histories declare Valerianus none of the worst Emperours being taken prisoner serued for a stoole to the kyng of Persia to get on horsebacke by all the dayes of his life How happened it so vnto him Because his houre appointed of God was come Wherfore then take we such cares Sufficient to the day is the care and trauel therof Therefore a kynges sonne must be enfourmed and brought vp like a kyng but to prescribe him what he shall doe in tyme to come and how good a kyng he shall be is but an afflicting of the minde This must be committed vnto the determination and will of God and we must say Lord God I enstruct and teach thys childe in déede but make thou hym a kyng at thy will and pleasure I beheld all the lyuing which walke vnder the Sunne with the seconde childe which shall stand vp in hys place There is none ende of all the people and of all that were before them they that come after shall shall not reioyce in hym This is also vanitie and vexation of spirit SAlomon calleth the lyuing those that lyue gorgiously and as though they sought for no other lyfe but that the world had béene created for their sake onely as the Gallaunts of the court vse to doe He cōtinueth in the example of a kings education whether it be to gouerne at home or in the fielde Education sayth he is a good thing but mans will studie bringeth not to passe that he would The deuises of education are deceitfull the trauell is necessary but the successe and care oftentimes beguileth vs. Therfore he teacheth vs that our deuises are vayne For if care and counsell deceaue vs in a kings education how much more wyll it deceaue in education of the cōmons where is lesse care and slenderer education That he sayth the liuing or all the states vnder the Sunne kéepe company wyth the second childe he meaneth not all simply but the most part of the kingdome so that the sence is all the company that be about the kyng waite and attende vppon the kinges sonne his becke Euery one cleaueth vnto him hauing cōceaued some great hope of him For this younge Prince is the second youth or springall which standeth in stéede of another king that is which shall be kyng and succeede in the kyngdome after his Father Before whome and behinde whom is there a great company of people that is to say he is waited on with a great multitude of people behinde before garding him as though he were kyng There is a great hope in this young man that he should passe his father in power and authoritie All mē déemed and iudged very well of him and yet they reioyced not in him Why so Because he aunswered not their expectation because he prooued such a foole and dullard accordyng to the prouerbe saying eyther a king or a foole borne Thus Nero in great hope and ioye of the people was made kyng in so much as the first fiue yeares of his raigne is of great fame and renowne But the yeares after prooued most vnlyke So Heliogabalus and Commodus also were chosē Princes and Emperours wyth great expectation of the people that they woulde be good men but they deceaued all men of their hope and looking For one of thē degenerated into a most filthy man yea into a beast rather then a man the other fell out to be most incommodious and the third prooued Nero. Wherefore a good Prince is a most rare Phoenix For mēs counsels are deceaueable in so much that he of whom we conceaued many tymes some singular hope him we most repent vs of So Roboam the sonne of a most wise father of whom surely the people cōceaued a very good hope as one brought vp godlyly vnder his father yet prooued he most vnlike to his father If therfore mens counsels so faile in the hyest degrée of lyfe they will much more fayle in the life of priuate persons in thy house in thine office c. For euen there also thou shalt haue thy childe eyther an artificer and workeman or a foole c. In déede he speaketh of kynges for in honorable personages are honorable exploytes and déedes that is such as are apparaunt The déedes of priuate persōs commonly are eyther neglected or lesse obserued and marked but according to the Duch prouerbe A wise man committeth no small follie If a Commonner offende or committe some foolishe facte it is not much regarded Otherwise the state and condition of priuate men and kings is all like Therfore Salomon condemneth not the paines taken in education of a kyng in enriching of a childe in gouerning of a familie and housholde but our deuises whereby we will rule and order all the matter He commaūdeth the worke but he forbiddeth thée the care Trauell thou instantly but committe the successe and effecte to god Remember the example of the king diligently brought vp and enfourmed yet altered that thou mayst know how thynges goe not by our deuises and endeuours but by the will of God which hath appointed a tyme and season for euery thing out of the which nothing can at any tyme succeede Therfore if he aunswere to his education thankes must be geuen vnto God not to our studie and care but vnto Gods blessing If our corne grow well we haue to thanke God for it not our selues For how is man able to defende his corne eyther from byrdes or beastes or wormes or from the enuy of Satan Therefore it lyeth not in our care and carke but in the fauour and blessing of God to the ende we should thanke him onely which worketh all in all according to his good will and pleasure So falleth it out in the education of our children If thou hast a good childe say the Lord hath geuen him and brought it so to passe If not say this is the proofe and state of mans life I did my diligēce the Lord would not haue it so hys name be blessed The fifth Chapter Take heede to thy foote whē thou entrest into the house of God and draw nere to heare for that is better then the Sacrifices of fooles for they know not how much hurt they doe HEre doe I beginne the

For wisdome remayned with me and looke whatsoeuer myne eyes desired I let them haue it and whatsoeuer my hart delyted or had any pleasure in I withheld it not from it Thus my hart reioysed in all that I did and thys was my portion of all my trauell But when I cōsidered all my workes that my handes had wrought and all the labour that I had taken therein loe all was but vanitie and vexation of mynde and nothyng of any value vnder the Sunne SAlomon reciteth in this place a beadrolle as I sayd of his workes that he did to procure hym mirth and pleasure and to well gouerne his house and familie They are easie to vnderstand by that is aforesayd I made great or gorgious workes Which our interpreter speaketh thus by Magnificacie that is to say I made notable and great workes of the which we read the 3. of the kynges the 3. and 7. chapiters c. What profit had I therof none but paine and trauel and others the fruite and commoditie Paradises or gardēs of pleasure The Hebrew worde signifieth A pleasaunt garden wherein bee faire plottes of floures and most noble rootes Vernaculos that is seruaunts borne at mine house For the children of bondmen which were borne at home were called Vernaculi which alwayes dyd seruice to that maister whose bondman their father was whether he were bought with money or howsoeuer els he became bond I bought seruaunts and maydens that is to say I was a notable husband in gouernaunce of house familie I thought to rule my house according to mine owne phantasie and deuise I gathered substaunce and treasure Whatsoeuer ornamentes and precious apparellings were to be gotten in any countrey that I furnished my selfe with to declare the pompe of my kyngdome as great rich kings vse to doe I prouided me singers and women playeng on Instrumentes to make myrth and passe tyme. HEre is a great variaunce amōg Grāmariens what Schida and Schidoth is I trāslated it men and women daūsers but I like it not I folow them in the meane season that thinke they are instrumentes of musike and that because of that is said before where he thus writeth I prepared me men singers and womē singers and things that might cheare and sollace men that is to say noyses of instruments He doubleth this word Schida Veschidoth because perhaps hee would expresse the mutuall consent and singyng by course that is amōg Musitians I was in great auctoritie or worshyp c. That is to say all these thinges were most commodiously ordered and disposed afterward And wisedome remayned with me He vnderstandeth not speculatiue wisedome but that wisedome that consisteth in good ordering and gouerning these worldly affaires wherein is included the diuine wisedome He confesseth that he had not onely abundaunce of thinges but wisedome also therwith to administer rule and gouerne all thinges well which is the greatest gift that God giueth man But it had no successe because he would haue all thinges which he had so wisely ordeined procéede after his owne deuise c. where notwithstandyng this is the saying of all men in the world It is not as it ought to be because they sée many thinges wisely appointed and ordeined yet haue no successe c. The greatest pointe of wisedome therefore is to know this that successe foloweth not but when God appointeth that things are gouerned neither by counsell of the wise nor by temeritie of the foolish And whatsoeuer myne eyes desired I let them haue it THat is to say I went yet farther and thought to enioye all the thinges I had prepared but I was not permitted I ment to make this my portion in this life but God would not suffer me to order these pleasures after mine owne deuise hee alwayes put many stumbling blockes in my way Whē I would haue enioyed my desires my gardens the affaires of the kingdome called me backe I was faine to sit downe and giue sentence accordyng to law and right I had matters in suite to arbitrement and to determine and take vp c. Thus I was not able to take my pastime as I desired This same very thing happeneth in our Princes that when they purpose to take their delightes some heauy occurrēce falleth out that disturbeth their ioy and causeth them to sorrow Thus doth God alwayes to stoppe and hinder our deuises and appointementes He giueth vs inough to vse and make mery with but hee will therewith haue vs to kéepe his Creatures purely and sincerely in their owne libertie Loe all this was but vanitie and vexation of mynde IS not this a great vanitie for a kyng that hath such abundaunce of goodes and plenty of all things and can not yet enioye any one thing of so many according to his owne deuise And if he chaūce to enioye any of them yet it is but by stealth So vnable we are to gouerne or comprehend thinges after our owne desire Let euery man therfore fréely enioy the thinges present euen as God sendeth them Let him suffer them to be taken away and to be giuen him to goe to come according to the Lordes pleasure when it is good Let him thinke It may agayne turne to euill and contrarywise that hee wallow not and bee drowned in pleasures as the wicked vse c. Nothyng of any value vnder the Sunne OF his own deuises man reapeth nothing but trauaile and misery The Creatures are good but our desires and deuises are vayne which prescribe vnto them boundes and rules whereas they will not be ruled by vs. Then dyd I turne me to consider wisedome errour and foolishnes For what is hee among men that might be cōpared to me the kyng in such workes And I sawe that wisedome excelleth foolishenes as farre as light doth darkenes For a wise man hath his eyes in his head but the foole goeth in darkenesse I perceaued also that they both had one end BY an other experience he prooueth all thinges are but vaine I meane mans counsels and enterprises Euen sayth hee as it hath happened to me so see I it happeneth to others also My deuises wisedome were frustrate in vayne and could not attayne to that successe that I wished The same I perceaued in others likewise I looked vpon other mens wisedome and folly and compared them togither I saw how some mē dealt very wisely went about matters very prudently I saw also foolish men and hare-braynes working without counsell and yet their folly and temeritie was sometime fortunate and had good successe Where the counsels of the wise came to no effect and the wise men were most infortunate in so much that this foole hardynes became a Prouerbe Fortune fauoreth fooles Cicero and Demosthenes were most wise men had notably appointed their common weales and made very good lawes they thought also that they should haue had good successe but it fell out otherwise in somuch